The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-11-07
THE CRUCIFIED HAND.
A Weird Tale OF Retributive Justice in
Early War Times.
From the Baltimore Herald.

Beside the road leading from the fertile
Meek" of Tuckahoe. in Caroline county,
stands huge poplar tree, with widespread
ing branches, at distance of four miles
from the county seat, Denton. A worm
fence" of oak rails, built in the primitive
style peculiar to that section, passes close
behind the tree, the bouGhs of which pro
lect clear across the sandy highway and
even beyond the fence which bounds it on
the other side, Save for its larger size and
evident age, this stately type of the English
forests would hardly attract greater share
OF attention than many others which, like
watchful sentinels, stand guard over the
Neck" roadways.
But at distance of few feet from the
ground the observer sees big nail, rust
eaten, and almost of the same color as the
seamy bark into which it is driven. Look
closely at the shape of the bark which sur
rounds 1t, and you win perceive the form of
human hand! An indelible impression it
is, with the iron spike driven straight
through the centrel
In the summer of one Of the first years of
the war. while the simple-minded farmers,
who were little disturbed by the great
struggle for the Union, were living out their
quiet, uneventful careers, tragedy oc-
CURED which created a greater sensation
than has ever before or since stirred the
feelings Of the staid farmers of Caroline. A
charming little girl, the daughter of one of
the widest known and best respected citi-
zenS of the county, failed to return one day
from the unpretentious wooden school-house
short distance from her home, which
she attended. The anxious parents, aided
by their kindly neighbors, searched for the
missing girl during the night, but no trace
of her was discovered. At daylight, with
an increased force, the search was renewed,
and during the day the lifeless form of the
little one was found in the vicinity of a
thicket of pines not far from her home, with
the weight of panel of the rude rail fence
of the period resting upon her delicate
neck. 1t was evident that both outrage
and murder had been committed. Suspicion
pointed toward colored man in the service
of the family, one Jim Wilson. He was
Immediately arrested. and confessed the
deed. He had been at work in the thclxet
when the little girl passed on her way
home from school. The frail dinner-pai
she had carried and her bundle of books
were found not far from the scene of the
crime. Sheriff Salisbury assumed charg"
of the prisoner and lodged him in Denton
jail. But he was never tried for the crime.
night or two after the incarceration of
Wilson a cavalcade of armed men rode into
town. They dismounted, having tethered
their horses TO the fence inclosing the pub
lie square, in which was situated the court
house and Jail. A log of wood was pro
cured, and in an orderly, compact body the
men marched to the jail Not word issued
from single throat save the leaders,. In
grim silence, with patient determination
fifty neighbors of the solrowing father and
of the heart-broken mother of the pure
young innocent whose promising life had
been snapped by the infamous wretch at
that moment lying in a cell in the square
brick building before them gathered in front
Of the door with the log like batteIing-
ram suspended above their shoulders. At
the word of command they rushed forward
breaking down the Jail door with a fright
full crash. The prisoner, in the rear cell
on the top floor heard them coming and be
gan to pray and beg for mercy. Axes were
quickly brought and the cell door cut open
To this day, the same door, bearing the
marks and cuts of that eventful night, il
used in the crazy old jail. A rope wa
placed about the neck of the miserable
wretch and fifty hands from the outside
jerked the criminal headlong down the mar
row stairs The lynchers yelled and whooped
in wild exultation, while the shrinking
wretch prayed fervently and fast. De
te1nined to make the punishment fit the
crime, the mob placed a moose around Viii
sons neck and tied the other end of the rope
to an axle connecting two cart wheels
Horses were attached to shaft fitted to
the axle and through the streets of the quiet
town the doomed man was dragged.
Behind followed the mob on horseback, glut-
ting their revenge in seeing the fellow com
PEELED to race at his utmost speed to prevent
himself being choked, and ever then half
the time being pulled over the ground at his
full length. The feminine and juvenile por-
ton of the population locked themselves in
their habitations. and in terror listened to
the wild cla1nor of the avenging mob.
When Wilson became exhausted he was
carried back to the jail and strung from one
of the tall trees which surround it. When
he had ceased struggling and while slowly
choking to death the crowd began fir ng at
him. The contents of scores of shotguns
and revolvers were poured into his body.
Not content with this, when the corpse,
rigid and CHASTITY was at length cut down,
it was carried to another part OF
the town and hung in front of a
church. Again it became a target for
the weapons of the crowd. A fire was
kindled on a hill just back of the village,
whose foot was washed by the waters of the
Choptank, and the body was t ken down
and conveyed thither. The two resident
butchers, armed with long knives, quar-
tered the remains, and the sections were
thrown in the flames and cremated. A hole
was dug near the spot and the ashes and
charred bones inferred. Years afterward
the latter were excavated by party of
venturesome boys, but the blood-curdling
tales told th-rn by old villagers of the fear
full crime and horrible death of Wilson
caused them to quickly RENTER their an
atomical find, and to this day the bones lie
undisturbed beneath the grassy surface of
the hill within stones throw of the rickety
old Jail
As the butchers dismembered the bullet
riddled corpse one OF the rioters, half
drunken, obtained the right hand. On his
way home in the early morning he nailed
the CHASTITY object to a tree, where it re-
manned for | know not how long. And
since that night a legend is current among
the jewellers in the countryside that the
ghost of the lynched man, full formed save
the absence of the right hand, haunts the
vicinity of the gigantic poplar in a vain
search after the missing member. | have
met people who assured me that, in the
lonely watches of summer nights, they had
personally come into contact with his NAL
formed and forlorn ghostship. But whether
this be really so know not
Keeping House for Little Money.
Letter to the Editor Of the London Daily Netos
AS the women are accused of being the
chief spendthrifts in household, may | say